PROPOSALS to sell off half of a playing field owned by a Guildford primary school have been met with criticism and concern from neighbours and community groups.

St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School in Merrow alerted interested parties to their plans for the land at the back of Horseshoe Lane West.

According to a letter from head teacher Kevin Gawley, the school intends to “seek permission from the Secretary of State for Education to sell approximately half of our Greencroft playing field space”.

Mr Gawley added that the school rarely used the field and the only non-school use was by a local football team on a Saturday morning.

“We are reviewing the assets available to us,” he said. “We do not feel this resource is currently being used in the best interests of the school and local community.”

Mr Gawley added the field, which is the size of two seven-a-side football pitches, was not being properly utilised because it was 200 metres away from the school and had no facilities.

He added the proposals were about “raising educational standards” and the potential sale of half the field would provide money to be re-invested in more sports facilities on the remaining land and school site.

Alex Forbes, chairman of Guildford Saints Football Club, which does make use of the ground, said he was against the sale.

He explained that every week he had to find football pitches for 14 youth teams to play on and they were always being taken away rather than added.

“To be honest it is a concern,” he said. “The continuing selling-off of school playing fields makes it difficult for clubs like ours that need to find pitches to play on.”

Sheridan Westlake, councillor for Merrow, added that if the land were sold off, it would undoubtedly create an opportunity for development.

“I can appreciate how schools want to make the best use of their assets.

“Yet I am very concerned over these proposals to sell off school playing fields in Merrow,” he said.

“I fear that selling off playing fields to developers will mean loss of valuable open green space.

“Given John Prescott’s planning rules, we could easily end up with an ugly block of flats without parking or garden space being dumped in its place.”

Mr Gawley, however, was quick to stress that no actual plans had been made.

He said a meeting to discuss the future of the land would take place at the school on Monday, September 25 at 7.30pm.

The meeting, he added, would give neighbours and members of the local community a chance to share their views and look at curriculum developments, sporting spaces and further improvements needed at the school.

“All we are doing at present is a consultation process with interested parties about the future of Green Croft playing fields.

“We want to understand their views with regards to the loss of a public amenity.

“Planning and development comes way down the line. If they say it is not a good idea then end of story.”